Christian schmitz of philadelphia



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Letters Patent No.- 80,018, dated J'uig/ 14, 1868.

IMPROVED MAGHINE FOB. STRETGHING AND SOFITBNING SKIN Si dln Stimuli hiaten tu it tten itetttts @that nur mating Vhtt at tige tame.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CON GEEN:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN Senmrz, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Machine for Stretehing'and Softening Skins; and I 'do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the chnstruction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation,

Figure 2 a top view, and

Figure 3 a central transverse section of my machine.

The nature of my invention consists in using/a number of parallel and adjustable blades fastened to a bench,

and a lever with parallel rollers pivoted to the'same bench, se that a hide or skin laid across said blades can be stretched by moving the lever, ivitlrits rollers, between said` blades while holding theends of the skin, and

allowing only so much to be drawn in from the outside as to prevent the skin from being torn, by which opera' tion the skin is stretched and softened more completely and much sooner than can be done by hand.

To enableothers skilled in the art tornake and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construetion and operation. i v Y l Upon a platform, A, made of timber or other suitable material, I place abench, D, anda hea-d,C, for inserting the supporting-blades D D D, as seen very plainly in 'section in fig. 3.

The said blades are Etted in slots in the top of bench B, and also in slots in the head C, which slots are of different depths, to facilitate a proper location of'set-screws c c c, for the adjustment of the blades.

A lever, 'E,;pivoted to a. fulerum, I", which is supported upon'thebench B, is flattened and slottedatf, in such manner thatin being moved down it will go between the blades D D without touehingthem, and allowing suiiieient room around the blades to work the thickest kind of hide through without danger of injuring it.

|lhis slotted portion of the lever is provided with rollers G Gr, and bearings gg fastened to the lever, said rollers being parallel to the slot, ,and also to the l'lades aforementioned. I i

So far the machine is completed, and can bc worked by hand at the free end of the lever E,'or by foot with the aid of a trcadle and connecting-rod, or by steam or other power, for which purpose the connecting-rod II, fulcrum K, and lever I, to be worked from a crank, eccentric, or' cam, may, perhaps, answer as well as any other connections. l i A l The operation lof my machine is as follows:

Take a skinor hide dressed in alum, with or without the'hair, and lay it across the supporting-blades, then vibrate the liever up and down. The downward movementof the lever brings Vthe rollers G G in contact with the skin, and hautes them to press down, and in consequence of the resistance offered by friction in. moving over the edgesof the blades-D D D, stretch the said skin to a certain extent, according to the wish of the operator, who can easily, by bearing more or less on the ends ofthe skin, regulate-'the amount of tension. He will, of course, apply more or less energetic action to one part of the skin than to another, as his experience and judginentmay dictate. p p

It is evident that this `process of stretching provides, also, for the cleaning and softening at the same time, exactly the sameas ifV it were done by hand, only with considerable saving of time.

The blades may be provided with the. same kind of edges or Scrapers, Ste., as the hand-tools, to make them just. nscifectunl. l l l The number of blades and rollers is variable, as well as the way of adjusting them.

This whole arrangement may be reversed, by making the rollers stationary and fastening'the blades to the movingslever, without altering oraffecting the results of the operation of my machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and'desire to secure by Letters Patent of' the United Sta-tes ot' America, is l' l. An instrument having a4 set of parallel, or nearly parallel, stationary blades or supports, and a. set of" parallel rollers, operated by a lever or otherwise, for the purpose of stretching leather, as set forth.

2. The arrangement of the blades D D D upon the supporting-head C, so'A as to adapt them for adjustment by means of the set-screws c, substantially as set forth.

To. the above I have signed my name, this Iirst'day of June, 1868.

' CHRISTIAN SCHMITZ,

Witnesses:

Wn. A. lfrnnnnsnnui, H. IIrnEMAn. 

